Global Vaccine Disparities

Opened the debate

The global vaccine distribution is marked by severe inequalities. Wealthier nations have received a disproportionate number of vaccines, while poorer countries such as those in Africa face extreme shortages, with only about 20% fully vaccinated across the continent and just 16% in low-income and poor countries. The Prime Minister's promise to share surplus vaccines has been poorly fulfilled, and vaccine hesitancy is not the main issue; instead, it is greed by pharmaceutical corporations and lack of solidarity from richer nations that hinders global vaccination efforts. Factories offering to produce vaccines locally have faced obstacles due to IP rights, leading to massive waste of doses while poorer regions remain under-vaccinated.

Government Response

It is a pleasure, as always, to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone. I am grateful to the right hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) for securing this debate and to all hon. Members who have contributed. According to recent research by Imperial College London, the global roll-out of covid vaccines has averted up to 20 million deaths but progress has been uneven. The Government's priority is to end the acute phase of the pandemic by ensuring that those most at risk are fully vaccinated and enabling societies to live with covid. UK scientific excellence and co-operation have made a huge contribution to collective knowledge about the virus, including how to treat it and vaccinate against it. The Government backed research into several successful vaccines, including through our £250 million support to CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations). We are a founder and one of the largest donors to COVAX with our commitment of £548 million, helping COVAX to deliver more than 1.5 billion vaccine doses to 146 countries worldwide, including 87 low and middle-income countries. The key challenge is ensuring that developing countries can effectively administer the vaccines they have. We are working with international partners to tackle delivery bottlenecks and improve vaccine uptake to ensure that covid-19 vaccines reach the most vulnerable. Community confidence and easy access are critical to successful roll-outs, so we are using our development budget to encourage uptake and improve delivery through initiatives such as a £20 million support for the Hygiene and Behaviour Change Coalition which builds vaccine confidence. We continue to work with partners like COVAX and CEPI to ensure affordable and effective second-generation vaccines available to low and middle-income countries, including supporting DIOSynVax's development of a new pan-coronavirus vaccine. The UK hosted the global pandemic preparedness summit raising £1.2 billion for CEPI's work, including a UK Government pledge of £160 million, aiming at rapid response to new variants. We are also working on integrating covid-19 vaccination tests and treatments into primary healthcare systems and supporting countries in developing sustainable approaches to managing the virus. The global vaccine roll-out is pivotal to ending the acute phase of the pandemic and transitioning to living with covid; we are investing in second-generation vaccines, pandemic preparedness and strengthening health systems.